Nau Denounces Political `Gridlock'

October 25, 1992|by HUGH BRONSTEIN, The Morning Call

Lehigh University research scientist and congressional candidate Eugene Nau said yesterday he isn't as worried about coming up with answers to the nation's problems as about getting Congress and the White House to move beyond gridlock and implement the solutions that have been proposed.

"It's quite disturbing that the solutions seem to be there but Congress is either unwilling or incapable of getting beyond politics as usual," Nau said at a news conference at Hotel Bethlehem.

From government waste to prison overcrowding to health care, the 39-year-old political novice said, progress will be made once politicians focus on resolving the problems of the people and stop trashing each other and catering to special interests.

"Congress is incapable of implementing practical solutions because their decisions are controlled by special interest groups and political action committees," Nau said. "We need to get third, fourth and fifth party candidates out there to break up the gridlock in Congress."

Nau belongs to the Natural Law Party and is running against Rep. Don Ritter and Democrat Paul McHale. In a recent televised debate, Nau could be heard chuckling in dismay while he listened to Ritter and McHale attack each other.

"They missed the most important value of debates, which is to discuss the issues and compromise, with the intention of coming up with solutions," Nau said. "I felt like I wanted to take a shower after we taped the debate."

He said plenty of good proposals have come out of Washington -- such as cutting government waste through the recommendations of Reagan's Grace Commission; introducing transcendental meditation in the prisons to reduce recidivism; and making preventive medical care available to everyone, thus cutting the expensive hospital stays and emergency room visits that are inflating the nation's health care budget.

The Natural Law party also has a presidential candidate, Dr. John Hagelin, a Harvard-trained nuclear physicist.

Nau acknowledged his chances of victory are almost none, but he said he hopes to serve as a conscience in the congressional race by steering the two front-runners toward the important issues.

"If I can get Paul McHale and Don Ritter to adopt any of our ideas, then we've won," Nau said.